Ever watched a lion?

These bad boys know something about themselves.  You can see it in their walk, feel it when they lock eyes with you and hear it when they roar.  They give off an air of confidence and overwhelming courage.  They’re kings and they know it.

Enter the Cowardly Lion from the Wizard of Oz.  This character was afraid of his own shadow and simply filled with overwhelming fear.  This fear left him paralyzed and ineffective in his role as a lion making the dichotomy both entertaining and pitiful.

As a follower of Jesus Christ I am called to be humble, girded with a servant’s heart and a compassionate hand.  But I am not called to be a coward.  Somewhere along the lines those things got confused and it’s time we stopped bowing before our fears and started rising up in the name of the True King.  It begins with an understanding of where your righteousness comes from and who’s power truly reigns over and in you.  The world is waiting for lions, fearless leaders who come with a heart of love, desiring to see the world come to know Christ.  Are you a lion?…getabsorbed…n

Proverbs 28:1..The wicked flee when no man pursues them, but the [uncompromisingly] righteous are BOLD AS A LION.

I’m finishing up a great new book by International Justice Mission president Gary Haugen.  “Just Courage” has been rocking my world; making me examine my walk with Christ during my short time on this earth…

Four things were addressed in the pages I read last night.  Four things that could potentially hold us back in “losing our lives for the sake of Christ.”

1. Comfort
2. Security
3. Control
4. Success

When you come to a place of letting those things go, you pick up four radically different pieces:

1. Adventure
2. Faith
3. Miracles
4. Deep knowledge of Jesus

Safe or Brave?  Great question…prayin toward an answer different than the one I presently have…getabsorbed…n

Me.

Most of my life is about the aforementioned guy.  There’s a lot of self, a little of God and not too much of you.  That’s coming into clarity and its gotta change.

The LIFE that the King would have me to LIVE is so radically different than what I’ve heard about or experienced.  It doesn’t fit into a standard mold and i would imagine it’ll garner a bunch of shaking heads.  (Poor kid…he’s losing it.)  Kingdom LIVING looks risky, dangerous and so far out of the world system that it’s gonna take a ton of reprogramming for me to  even take the first step…it’s a dousy…

What brought all this on?  Well, a ton of things but last night, this verse rolled around in my head as I drifted off to sleep.  I wanna lose it…forever…getabsorbed…n

Luke 9:24
24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.
NIV

I’ve been complaining to God lately about the lack of clarity and shaky focus in my life.

I don’t know about you but I want things to line up, make sense and actually be figured out long before they even happen.

Too bad God doesn’t work that way.

Here’s what I’m finding out:  God is the clear constant.  I’m not owed explanations, answers or even clarity.  My life was purchased by His blood and my heart redeemed by His love.  I’m not OWED anything…

My life is a vapor but it’s HIS vapor… is yours?  He actually knows what He’s doing  …getabsorbed…n

I’m just flat out terrible at faking things. Some people can paste a smile on their face and go about like nothing is wrong. Actually they almost go over-the-top nice externally, when internally they’re falling apart. I envy people like that. Sorta…
My face and eyes always give me away. I can’t “look” the part when something is deeply troubling to me. I have to work it out…it’s kinda like my body is in synch with my spirit…they reflect and mirror each other. Outta the heart the mouth speaks….the eyes are the window to the soul…
My poker face needs work…getabsorbed…n

Yesterday in musical worship something was audible.

Yeah, duh it’s musical worship, right? True, the instruments, vocals and all other stuff combine to make an incredible sound but there was something else.

Something in the people.

A shout.

“The Lord his God is with him, and the SHOUT of a King is among them” Numbers 23:21

I always wondered if it was there. I’d never heard it before but there is the SHOUT of a King among LC…incredible….getabsorbed…n

Had a chance to do some teaching last weekend at our home church. (Check it out here…Epic Life…Cause) It’s such a sacred honor and great responsibility to have the platform to speak into someone’s life. We all have one but how do we use it? I get to do it again this weekend so hope to see you at LC or online…

One thing God challenged me on years ago was to not communicate for INFORMATION but for TRANSFORMATION. I was teaching college age kids and their heads were so full of garbled info that there just wasn’t room. I needed a new approach. That sounds nice and easy but most of the time we are wired to communicate INFORMATION; squeezing in as much as we can in the time allotted. TRANSFORMATION is a different duck…

TRANSFORMATION, for me, involves whittling my words down to A POINT, a specific and simple point for the listener to take away. One or at most two points is about all I can absorbed in a given setting. I try to find A POINT and then work from there. It’s challenging, exciting and a great way to approach communication. It not only helps the listener retain but it helps the speaker to mature as well. Speak to TRANSFORM..getabsorbed…n

Yeah…she’s cute.

I haven’t seen her for a week or so and probably won’t ever see her again.  But I can’t get her face outta my mind.  I can’t get her situation outta my thoughts.  I can’t get her environment outta my prayers.  She’s in El Salvador and through her, El Salvador lives in me…Buenos noches, Brenda Estephanie…getabsorbed…n

CAUSE motivates, inspires, mobilizes and unites. It brings life, gives clarity and provides much needed direction. It can act as a filter for your life anfd your church. CAUSE has to be known and understood. It brings life to any organization.

It also excludes.

Here’s the deal. If you and I are about a Kingdom CAUSE, not everybody is gonna resonate with it. CAUSE means work, sacrifice and focus. CAUSE means living for the things that are on the heart of God, not the heart of man. Not everybody wants to give what it takes to live for Kingdom CAUSE.

CAUSE will exclude. Let it. The rich young ruler didn’t want to be about a Kingdom CAUSE even when confronted with the fact he was living for self. Jesus looked upon him and loved him….but Jesus didn’t run after him. CAUSE will cost you everything. Are you willing?…getabsorbed…n

As I sat in a comfy chair on my inlaws driveway and watched my children light off fireworks, my thoughts drifted to the reason we celebrate.
Over 230 years ago, ordinary men sat down in a God-ordained fashion and crafted a document for the ages. Those 56 men were filled with such conviction, such CAUSE that they literally signed their lives away in what would become known as the Declaration of Independance. For those men, life would never be the same…
You see, a CAUSE does that. It transforms, it shapes, it asks you to give all.
I hope that in the midst of teaching my kids how to be safe around Wal-Mart bought fireworks, I can teach them how to be dangerous for the CAUSE of Christ…getabsorbed…n